Extended Redeployment
by Blut und Eisen
Summary: Neon Genesis Evangelion Earth Defender Squadron Blue X Over. What happens when Your Anti Evangelion meets ...Evangelion? Blue Squadron gets assigned to Tokyo3 for extended exercises with NERV's finest. Hijinks, yelling, angst and self discovery. R&R.
1. Chapter 1: A Rival Procedure

Disclaimer: _Neon Gensis Evangelion _and its characters belong to Gainax. _Earth Defender Squadron Blue _and its characters belong to The Stormwarden Project. This is not intended to infringe on the rights the author has no right to claim.

Part 1: A Rival Procedure.

"NERV Control, this is Blue Lead, over." The transmission came off as more than a little clipped. Viper always worried his accent would leech into his speech, no matter how long he lived in Shinjuku. Besides, who in their right mind set up an airbase that refused to communicate in English like any other air control authority in the world?

A long pause settled over the radio. Viper slipped a finger to key the mike, just as the speaker came alive again. "Blue Lead, this is NERV Control. Local Altimeter is Two-Niner Point Eight-Six. Say intentions," the control rattled off formally.

Viper sighed audibly. NERV Control wanted to make this hard on him, and he hadn't even pissed them off yet. "Blue Squadron is cleared to NERV Field, request clearance to land, pursuant to flight plan Eisen-two four." Hopefully breaking out the operational code word for this… whatever the hell it is would get some action.

"Standby, Blue Lead."

Viper was wrong.

"Viper, I'll bet if we offer to strafe their tower, they'll let us land," called Dice over the Blue Squadron TacNet. She tried to pitch her voice up to sound sarcastic, but the low growl betrayed her irritation.

"Let's give them a minute. But, at my command, Dice and Song, fly top cover. Short, you and Book set the Jammers. Shadow and I will go in for guns," replied Viper, not sure if he was joking or not.

Fortunately, NERV Control came back. "Blue Lead, we do not have you on our scopes."

Exasperated, Viper had to let fly. "That sounds like a personal problem, NERV Control. Now, clear us to land."

The voice on the other end stammered a reply, "What do you…" Clearly, he wasn't used to the idea of someone speaking firmly to him. "Squawk Four-Niner-Two-Seven." Viper did so, and at the same time dialed in the ILS for NERV's runway. As he finished up, NERV Control spoke up. "Blue Lead, you are not in the proper position according to published procedures."

Viper just rolled his eyes. "NERV Control, your published procedures lick monkey balls."

Stunned silence followed, followed by a shocked, "Say again, Blue Lead."

Viper let the anger seep into his voice. "Your procedures would have added a half hour to my flight time, and we have a happy hour to catch. Now, clear us to land, or I'll put 24 compression nukes on your runways and take my marbles home."

"He'll do it, too!" Dice almost giggled girlishly as she splashed gasoline on the fire.

NERV Control clicked the mike a few times, but came up a loss for words each time. Clearly someone over their either was an arrogant son of a bitch or needed a backbone transplant. Finally, an older, more authoritative voice came on. "You are cleared to land, Blue Squadron."

"Thank you, NERV Control. We have visual on the field." Viper then flicked over to the Squadron 'net. "Alright, we'll land in element formation. I'm on the right strip, Dice and Song, you're on the left strip. Book and Short, down the middle."

Viper barely finished speaking before Shadow patiently explained, "Blue Lead, the right and left strips are taxiways."

Viper turned his head around to look at his wingman, locked in perfect formation on his wing. "And your point?" asked Viper, his palms skyward.

"I'd tell you it would probably piss them off, but I suspect you accounted for that in the decision."

"Well, I'm not buzzing the tower, am I?" It was the only worthy response as Blue Squadron settled into the final landing approach.

The turbines of Viper's 'Warden wound down slowly, the whine deepening and trailing. Above him, the canopy locked open as white jumpsuited men rushed up to the fighter, scurrying around him in a pantomime of efficiency. Viper just shook his head. They had forgotten the ladder back at the hangar, trapping him in the cockpit. Shinobu would have started breaking necks if that happened on her watch. Either way, he could at least start getting properly attired- when he was taxing to the parking area, Whitman had ordered him to go meet with the NERV Liaison Officer. Viper unsnapped his helmet, running his fingers through his damp hair before extracting his aviator sunglasses and Yankees cap, adjusting them slightly as the ladder finally came up to the cockpit.

Shadow waited for him at the bottom of the ladder. Apparently, his ground crew was almost competent. Viper grinned at him.

"I'm not your crew chief, Viper. Your smile worries me," Shadow replied to his grin.

"I know, I know. I figured I'd pretend," said Viper as he looked around the tarmac. The crew workers were the only uniformed personnel around, a few school kids and their teacher were hanging around by the entrance to the hangar.

_Jesus, what a security fuckup! Ah, well, not my department._

He turned back to Shadow. "We're supposed to be meeting with the NERV Liaison- see him anywhere?"

"Her," Shadow stated matter-of-factly, which prompted a quizzical-cum-confused look from Viper. "Major Katsuragi is, in fact, female." Viper's look persisted. "It was in the briefing." Viper's forehead furrowed in thought. "Did you even read the briefing?" Viper shook his head. Shadow sighed audibly.

"Well, let's go…" Viper's voice trailed off. "Hey, Shadow, does Katsuragi look like a schoolteacher?"

It was Shadow's turn to look puzzled by Viper's odd query. "Well, like a schoolteacher in a porno."

"I don't watch porn anymore, just ask my girlfriend," responded Viper, faux-defensively.

"Of course not. By the way, thanks for letting me borrow _Sorority Party 16_."

"Sure thing. Beats the crap out of the _Oedipal Girl Keiko_ dating sim."

"Viper, having my eyes burned out with an acetylene torch beats the _Oedipal Girl Keiko_ dating sim."

"Yeah, but even that won't remove the images seared into your forebrain." They both shared a laugh. "So, this Katsuragi, think that's her?" Viper pointed to the schoolteacher and her charges, still as yet unarrested for espionage and high treason. Shadow nodded, and they strode off in her direction. As the gap closed, Viper threw a textbook salute.

"Captain Don Taylor, ma'am. You Major Katsuragi?" Japanese always sounded goofier in Taylor's fake Texas accent.

"Yes, I am," she replied, returning the salute. "Welcome to Tokyo-3."

"Thank you much, Major. Call me Viper, it's really the only name I respond to." Taylor nodded, and continued with the formalities. "This is my wingman, Shadow. Those two debarking from their 'Wardens are Short and Bookworm. Dice and Songbird are taxing from the far side of the field; they should be here in a minute." Viper pointed out all of Blue's pilots, with a general wave across the field towards the last element.

The extreme unconventionality of the introductions and the complete lack of real person names left the NERV party clearly baffled. Shadow was about to leap to save the day when Katsuragi nudged the only boy on the NERV side. He shuffled forward, and with a quavering voice, announced, "I'm Ikari Shinji, I'm glad to meet you!" He followed with a jerky, too deep bow.

The redhead stepped forward, bowed slightly, "I'm Asuka Langley Soryu, and I'm looking forward to kicking your ass!"

The other girl just mumbled, "Ayanami Rei."

Viper's head twisted towards Shadow. He meant to think it really hard, but, it popped out. "These motherfuckers are supposed to save the world?" At least it came out in English, which should have mitigated any response.

Sadly, the redhead spoke English, as Viper discovered from the impact of her shoulder in his midsection. They tumbled, weightless in the air for a second before his back landed on the concrete floor with a whump. Soryu quickly climbed to straddle his chest. Her hands balled into fists, which presently began to swing wildly at Viper's head. "Who're you calling a motherfucker, you pig-faced son of a bitch?" she bellowed

Viper managed to block most of the blows on his arms, while Shadow just chuckled and said, "Damn, Viper. Even in Tokyo-3, the girls can't stay off you!" The NERV party reeled in shock before Katsuragi caught Soryu's arms and peeled her off Viper.

Katsuragi kept one hand on Soryu while she grimaced apologetically. "I'm very sorry- she's very anxious to begin training with you." Katsuragi spoke quickly, trying to put the best face on a looming disaster.

Taylor climbed back on his feet, planted his sunglasses back on his face, and laughed. "No worries. I know guys down in Ginza who pay 10,000 Yen for that kind of treatment."

Soryu face turned red again, but Katsuragi tightened her grip. She smiled again, and said. "Please hurry with your showers and changing. We've put your new school uniforms in your lockers, and if you hurry we can all make afternoon classes."

Viper nodded and was about to respond when a pregnant pause surrounded the various pilots. A realization dawned around them and in perfect synchronization, they all shouted, "Wait, we're all in the same class?"


	2. Chapter 2: Eisen 1

Part 2: Eisen-One.

"… and it looks like all three are armed with some sort of rapid fire chain gun," Shadow concluded. He fiddled with the sensor displays, working through the extensive spectra available to him through his personalized senor suite. While he worked, the rest of Blue Squadron turned lazy racetracks in the sky high over Hokkaido, their engines optimized for absolute minimum fuel consumption. It was rare they had a chance to get this much information on their opponents, and they intended to exploit it- two orbits of Earth didn't take much fuel out of a Warden.

Shadow continued. "Based on energy output and heat readings, I'd say Unit-01 is the main threat, then Unit-02 and Unit-00. Of course, we know how much pilot skill matters. I can't find any evidence of emplaced anti-air weapons or anything else out there. We seem to have caught them far enough from Tokyo-3 to isolate them."

"Thank god for small favors, right, Lead?" replied Dice, clearly anxious to come to grips with the Evas and glad to avoid any external interference.

"Yup. Now, we'll wait a little bit," said Viper. The squadron's autopilots had been slaved and coordinated on his flight path, keeping them in formation as he turned ragged, slow racetracks through the sky, turning them slowly into the Evas.

"Wait? Who are you, and what have you done with Viper, you NERV plant!" laughed Songbird as Viper began programming his GPS navigation computer.

"They're still loitering up there, moving slowly towards the engagement envelope," Hyuga stated. His fingers brushed through his hair, damp with sweat despite the powerful air conditioning that supplied NERV's command center. Blue squadron had spent the last several hours in a holding pattern, flying it raggedly and inching towards the Eva's engagement range. At this rate, it would be dawn before they engaged.

"They seem to have impressive endurance," Akagi responded. She had come in to see how the exercise had gone and invite Katsuragi out for a drink, only to find the affair still ongoing.

Katsuragi settled back in to her chair with a sigh. "Well, I've heard that Stormwardens have fought battles as far away as the Asteroid Belt, and they engaged in fights around the Moon all the time during the Quindoc War. I just didn't expect this, based on the psychological abstracts and predictive models."

"Not just the machines, the pilots," Ibuki chimed in. "All the synch ratios are hovering right at the horizon for our pilots, but I'll bet the ANSRS telemetry data shows a different story." She kept an eye on the Synch Ratio display, but the direct image feeds from the Eva cockpits told the story: the stress of the wait and the boredom of inactivity were clearly getting to them. Unfortunately, there was no way to stand them down effectively- at this range, if Blue Squadron flipped over suddenly and went to maximum acceleration, they could be on top of the Evas before they came back up, given the potential issues involved in manning and activating an Eva. "Even Rei's synch is dangerously low, and Asuka's going to drop off the scope any minute now."

Dull silence threatened to encroach upon the command station like a coming darkness, prompting Hyuga to fight back. "These Stormwarden's stealth systems are really something. They're circling slowly over Kamchatka at the edge of the atmosphere, and we can barely detect them. We have to keep a manual track on them, and the only hard data comes from when they cycle their active sensors." His voice betrayed a certain sense of wonder about their elusive foes.

Katsuragi stood slowly, reaching into her pocket to check for change. If this situation persisted, she would need caffeine to stay awake long enough to give effective tactical guidance. The situation came up often enough to warrant an array of vending machines in the hall. She glanced absently at the doorway, when a tall, lean figure in a bleached white uniform fixed her gaze.

"Whitman-shosa, shouldn't you be over in your command station?" she asked, clearly puzzled. _How could he exercise tactical control over an engagement without all the functions of a nerve center?_

Whitman's only response was a slight grin, which grew wider as an alarm klaxon shattered the looming silence.

"Multiple hypersonic contacts over the Philippine Sea! Multiple tracking stations showing six high speed contacts, altitude 5 meters, on course for the Evas!" Panic rose in the reporting voice. "They'll be on top of them in seconds!"

Whitman chuckled from the doorway. "Looks like the beer's on your team tonight, Major Katsuragi."

"They've got us for certain, Blue Lead," reported Shadow.

"Roger. We're at the India Papa anyway. Blue Squadron, attack formation, climb to five-zero-zero, attack speed," commander Viper as he simultaneously pulled back on the stick and throttle. The sudden shift slammed him back in the seat as the 'Warden jerked quickly up to the required altitude. The rest of Blue Squadron acknowledged the order and followed him up. The shift in altitude opened up a broader vista below him, including the three tall, humanoid figures, standing relaxed in a clearing near a hill. The hill protected them from the north, where the sensor ghosts still circled. The figures began moving jerkily, but were reacting too slowly to the reality unfolding around them. "Viper, Tallyho!"

"Dice, Tallyho!"

"Short, Tallyho!"

Viper made a slight adjustment on his stick, putting the pipper square on the purple chest of Eva-01. As soon as it flashed green, Viper flicked the trigger at the speed of instinct. Heat blooms started to grow across the chest of the Eva as the pulses vaporized the armor plastered across the skin of the beastly craft, leaving it lurching on its feet. Oddly enough, the only movement he could spot from the giant figure was the head turning towards him, as if staring at him in mute disbelief. He kept the laser cannon cycling for as long as he dared before risking a collision with the Eva or a controlled flight into the terrain accident. He yanked back on the stick, throwing the nose high as he jammed the throttle forward, trying to put as much distance between him and the targets he left behind.

"Viper, Twenty Mike-Mike!" The call was, admittedly, a little late. He jerked the stick around randomly as tracers from the Eva's guns zipped around him.

"Dice, Twenty Mike-Mike!'

"Short, Twenty Mike-Mike!" He sounded a little more panicked than the rest. Short presently explained, "I'm a dot! Took a hit, extending northbound, back to roost!"

Viper twisted in his seat as his 'Warden rushed away from the engagement zone at the speed of heat. Short's fighter had twisted off to the north, trailing smoke as he made for the upper atmosphere and relative safety. Viper reckoned that, since he was still climbing, his damage was survivable.

"Shadow, Rifle!"

"Songbird, Rifle!"

"Bookworm, Rifle!"

Viper immediately spun his head towards the Evas as the other element released their missiles. He had been as shocked as anyone that today's ROE had authorized the compression nukes for terrestrial combat, but, given the Eva's noted toughness, he wasn't about to pass up such a potent weapon. Shadow's analysis of the briefing material before the flight had confirmed it was the best way, fallout be damned.

Barely a second after the call, Viper's canopy polarized to block out most of the blinding, pure white light that surrounded the Evas. Eighteen micro-sized stars flashed around the tall figures, burning furiously for a short few seconds before dissipating.

Much to Blue Squadron's consternation, one Eva emerged from the sudden appearance of hell on earth.

"Shit," muttered Viper as he threw his 'Warden into a ballistic arc towards the stratosphere.

NERV HQ burst into a flurry of activity as the shock of Blue's sudden assault abated.

"The MAGI confirm Eva-01 and Eva-02 destroyed!" Began an excited voice. "The pilots are… gone," it concluded somberly.

"Eva-00 suffered minor damage. Pilot synch ratios are high!"

"We got one! Radar confirms one Stormwarden departing to the north. High altitude, it's above out weapons systems."

"Five contacts headed for the stratosphere, out of weapons range. They're not departing the engagement zone."

"MAGI review concludes that Eva-01 and 02 failed to deploy their AT Fields to defeat the nuclear weapons, due to low pilot synch rates. Eva-00 barely made it," Ibuki concluded the series of reports.

Katsuragi slumped back in her chair. Calling the results of the last few minutes an epic disaster surely underestimated the case. She considered her options for a few seconds, not sure if Blue Squadron would suddenly turn back in on Ayanami in Unit 00. "We have no choice. Unit-00 will proceed to the nearest retrieval point. How close is it?"

"Ten minutes," Hygua confirmed.

"Roger," Ayanami confirmed. She kicked her Eva towards Tokyo-3, as fast as its legs would carry her.

"I can confirm Bookworm's analysis, Blue Lead. Some kind of energy spike came over my sensors as well right before the missiles detonated. It seems to have rendered them useless. I don't think we can overcome it before we're bingo fuel," Shadow confirmed with a hint of disappointment. Blue squadron always swept the enemy, and the idea someone would get away from this, despite the success of their first attack, stuck in everyone's craw.

Songbird chimed in, "Blue Lead, I have an idea. This Eva's powered by an electrical umbilical, right?"

"That's right, Song," Bookworm confirmed.

"Well, then, if we cut its power, it'll run out of juice quickly," concluded Song.

Shadow punched some figures into his computer. "That seems right. Though, they're bound to have reserve umbilicals available, and I can't detect them." He paused. "And the target is still on the move. It appears to be making a retreat."

"Does the field cover the whole umbilical?" asked Dice. Shadow confirmed the negative. "Then, what're we waiting for?"

Viper flipped the variables over in his mind for a few seconds, seeing the plan congeal in his mind's eye. "This is how we go. Book, you're on Shadow's wing. I need you two to jam NERV's sensor array. I want them to have as little warning of our attack as possible. Dice, you and Song get ahead of the target. When NERV deploys their reserve umbilical, obliterate it. I'll cut the current umbilical. Questions?" There were none. "Let's roll, Blue."

The displays in NERV central turned to static. "We've lost sensor contact over the engagement zone! They're jamming us in multiple spectrums!"

Katsuragi surged out of her chair. "Rei! They're coming in again!"

Viper's 'Warden shuddered as a heavy slug ripped through the fuselage. He felt the plane buck and surge under him as he rode it in fast. Tracers continued to zip around him as alarm lights and buzzers filled the cockpit. In spite of the cacophony, he kept his attention focused on the power cord running across the ground. He made minute adjustments to the 'Warden's course as it screamed towards the ground. He flicked the trigger, sending burning flashes of coherent light across the sky. A pair of bursts found the umbilical, melting the cord and snapping it under the tension in a spray of arcing electricity.

"Cord's cut!" Viper called as he yanked the stick back, skimming over the ground at high speed as he began to address the screaming alarms.

"Copy, Blue Lead," replied Shadow, sensing that tactical direction fell to him and his sensor suite, given the smoke flowing out of the rear of Viper's ship. "Dice! I just detected a new target ahead of the Eva. It looks like they've deployed another umbilical. I'm sending the coordinates."

"Copy, Shadow," she replied coolly. Dice's 'Warden screamed towards the tower that had shot from the ground ahead of Eva-00. "Twenty Mike-Mike!" she called as her lasers shredded the thin stand holding the umbilical.

Eva-00 continued to surge forward, racing towards each umbilical as it deployed. Fire spat from the gun cradled in its arms at the darting, agile cranes that smashed every umbilical as soon as it came out of the ground. Alarms flashed as the countdown continued to march to zero, and then Eva-00 lurched to a stop.

"Viper, Rifle!'

"Dice. Rifle!"

Maya's head hung over the console. "Eva-00 destroyed. No sign of the pilot."

Katsuragi turned back to the door. Whitman smiled like a proud father. "See you at the karaoke bar, Major."


	3. Chapter 3: Victory Beer

Part 3: Victory Beer

Katsuragi drummed her fingers absently on the table, puncturing the bored silence that had fallen over the long private room. Putting together Blue's victory party had fallen to her, since she commanded the losing side in last night's simulated exercise. That and no one else had either the pull or the time to do it.

Saying that putting together the party had been a pain in the ass severely underestimated the case. Getting an oversized private room in a karaoke bar that wouldn't mind NERV's younger members was traditionally one of the great challenges of Tokyo-3's social life. Getting such a room on short notice created a feat that should have been enshrined in poetry and song. Just finding a place that met all the prerequisites had taken threats, cajoling, horse trading and the careful application of a pouty smile. Then, she had to put the whole thing together through a NERV front organization in order to satisfy Earth Defender Command's paranoia concerning their pilot's identities. She had been shocked to learn that EDC considered the identity of its pilots as the second most important secret in the organization, just below the technical details of the ANSRS system. The fact that they had not told her so contributed to her current annoyance, but not as greatly as the lecture she had received mid-afternoon from the EDC Counter-Intelligence team that had swooped down on her soon after she'd begun mentioning Blue Squadron as part of the arrangements. While she could appreciate, on an aesthetic level, their effectiveness, the whole thing cost her time, which had made the arrangements even that much harder.

_It was enough to drive a woman to drink_, she concluded as she cracked open another beer.

All of this frustration would likely have abated if the party had gone off without a hitch. Earlier, all was well. The invited NERV personnel had arrived on time and settled into their seats on their side of the long table. They had all ordered their drinks with pleasant efficiency, and had managed, until a few minutes ago, to carry on the sort of non-offensive conversation that makes waiting endurable. Unfortunately, they had run out of safe topics, and still Blue was nowhere in sight.

"_Gott in Himmel_!" cried an exasperated Soryu. "Is there anything ruder than being late to your own victory party?"

Ikari looked down into his half-empty glass. "Maybe they're just caught in traffic or something. It's always crowded this time of day."

Soryu glared at him, her eyes focal points for concentrating her frustrations on Ikari. "Oh, shut up. They could have called. It's probably those Americans' fault."

The chill of silence descended around the room again, the feeling even more oppressive after Soryu's outburst. Maya began to speak, "Well, this is a karaoke bar. Maybe someone…" she was cut off but a loud, persistent, drunken song from down the hall. The tremendous soundproofing of the place managed to distort it, but sheer boisterousness propagated it through the room. And it seemed to be getting closer. The assembled guests traded apprehensive glances.

Katsuragi sighed and stood, about to confront the rude guests when the door burst open. The two American Blue pilots, Viper and Dice, lurched drunkenly into the room, leaning on each other for mutual support and clutching a beer bottle in their free hands. Their exuberant singing continued with the end of their chorus, "We are the hounds of heaven, the bloody dogs of war!" They took another stumbling step into the room, raising the bottles triumphantly over their head. Their entrance left concerned looks on the rest of the party as they stumbled towards their seats across from the Eva pilots. Shadow followed with Bookworm, the pair chattering endlessly in what seemed their own private patois of numbers, acronyms and inside jokes.

Short staggered in under the load of more beer, followed by Songbird, her dress plucked from the window of one of Tokyo-3's fashion hotspots. She bowed gracefully, and with all sincerity stated, "We're very sorry." Her head tilted up, eyes watching Viper crawl over the table towards the beer Short had begun deploying to the table. "For everything. We really are sorry."

Soryu leaned forward to confront the new arrivals, but Katsuragi tugged her back quickly. "Did you have trouble finding the place? I'm sorry for choosing such an out of the way location," Katsuragi said, hoping to smooth things over.

Songbird waved her hands as if to push away any blame from the table. "No, no. If we were more familiar with Tokyo-3, it would have been very easy to find. Besides, Whitman-shosa ordered us to undertake a longer exercise than we expected after class."

Katsuragi sat back. "What sort of exercise did he assign after you stayed up all night in the simulator and then when to school?" It seemed rather harsh to make children train more after such an ordeal.

Short piped up. "A ten kilometer run. He said it was the right way to celebrate a victory, since we clearly didn't need more sim time." Glasses clinked as Short arranged them for efficient beer pouring. Next to him, Shadow began opening bottles to facilitate the start of real drinking. "That also accounts for the state of our gaijin friends," Short continued. "They decided to rehydrate themselves with beer, rather than water."

"Short, gaijin is not the politically correct term for people like me," replied Viper, his face contorted exaggeratedly in mock indignation. "I believe the proper term is complete idiot."

"No argument here, Lead," Short quipped as he tipped a beer bottle and began to pour. "Then again, I don't think anyone would argue with that, ever." Blue squadron laughed heartily, accompanied by a nervous chuckle from a few of the NERV crew across the table. They seemed relieved that such a remark didn't bring another argument, or even violence.

"Still, it seems like a demanding schedule," remarked Katsuragi, performing passably at the task of keeping her surprise under wraps. "And even still, here you are, out drinking."

Short shrugged. "The numbers add up- we didn't run yesterday, so we needed to make up the distance. And we don't have to fly tomorrow, and you did invite us out. It would be rude to pass up free beer," he concluded as he began dealing beer glasses as if he headed a Vegas blackjack table.

Katsuragi nodded. "Well, Whitman-shosa and I have different backgrounds, I suppose." She took the glass Short passed her, and then continued. "Speaking of Whitman, I was hoping he'd make it- as well as some others. I hope there isn't some emergency detaining them."

Songbird replied, her beer set off to the side at a discreet distance from her- close enough to be hers, far enough away to not be hers. "Our crew chiefs apologize for not coming. Apparently, by some secret ritual calendar unknown to us, this is the night of the month where crew chiefs all over the world gather in dark corners of bars to drink. We pilots do not inquire further into such mysteries. Though Shinobu, Viper's crew chief, may stop by to collect him. This is actually unrelated to squadron business."

Katsuragi nodded, but pressed. "And Whitman- is there an emergency?"

Viper spoke up, slightly more sober for sitting down. "Depends on your definition of emergency, Major. His car's in need of repair, and anytime a car that beautiful has a major gripe, it's an emergency in my book." Most of Blue Squadron's pilots nodded in agreement, Short and Dice more emphatically than others.

Katsuragi tilted her head to the side, quirking an eyebrow. "What kind of car?"

Short responded as he pulled his glass up, "An '07 Dodge Viper. Thankfully he had it shipped over when he was assigned to command Blue. It's something of a totem for the squadron, and when it's not working, we worry." Short extended his hand in a toast. "To fast planes, fast cars, and fast women."

"I'll drink to that," replied Viper, his glass ringing as it intercepted Short's. He leaned slightly to avoid the elbow Dice aimed at his ribs, while Song sighed exaggeratedly for public consumption. This toast seemed to bring back the reserved consternation inherent in NERV personnel, until a third glass joined the pair at the center of the table.

"I'll drink to that," said Aoba, pushing his long hair off his face.

Viper grinned. "Let's party," he said, declaring festivities underway.

---

Ikari Gendo crossed his hands across his face, his elbows propped up on his desk. "So, I see that this Blue Squadron performed beyond our expectations?" He lifted his eyes to focus on Fuyutsuki.

"It would appear that we have underestimated them. And our continuing investigations into Earth Defense Command are uncovering some unconfirmed, but worrying issues of various kinds," Fuyutsuki replied, his hands clasped behind his back. "The pilots and their commander appear to be more complex than our original scenarios had indicated. Furthermore, it seems much of our information on them has been deliberately falsified."

Ikari contemplated this for a moment. He had hoped Fuyutsuki would allay, not confirm, his concerns about this group. "This new element must not overwrite the scenario."

Fuyutsuki nodded in agreement. "I'm beginning to take steps, though this may take a while. We need a certain period to form new estimates."

Ikari nodded his assent.

----

"… And I felt so fucking proud, that I shouted right out loud," sang Shadow. He managed to hold the last note of the last verse to its appropriate length, despite his earlier drinks.

"Fuck 'em all!" the rest of the company completed the song's simple, bold refrain. Even Ikari managed to collect enough courage to complete the last line, despite the obscenities and anti-social tendencies projected by the song. Drunken laughter, mostly provided by Blue Squadron, filled the room.

"Shadow, old buddy, don't let anyone cheat you out of a record deal," laughed Viper, slapping his wingman on the back forcefully. The smaller pilot chuckled as he buckled slightly under the smack.

Aoba's cheeks had flushed long ago, aided by Short's aggressive beer pouring technique. She leaned over the table slightly as said, "So, I've wanted to know just where these nicknames of yours come from. After all, if I don't get to know what your real names are, I'd better know the stories behind the names you use." She giggled girlishly, a little surprised at her own boldness.

Short chuckled. "Well, I once forgot exactly where a runway began. This is a problem when you're trying to put your plane down on it."

Viper grinned over at him. "Once? I heard it was chronic problem."

"Shut up, Viper. At least I'm not named for a minor movie character," retorted Short. He took a long pull of his beer. "And it was twice, okay? Only twice would I have crashed a multibillion dollar hypersonic trans-aerospace fighter."

"Actually, the Stormwarden's total production cost is only $1.5 billion per aircraft. Considering the plans for a second wing, that should fall pretty quickly, given the production cost per aircraft and the applicability of economies of scale," reminded Bookworm.

"I hope that was enough of an explanation for our dear Book," chuckled Short.

"That and she managed to ignore the drill sergeants back in basic by smuggling novels into formation. A natural skill, I say," Dice chimed in. Aoba looked at her expectantly. "Oh, why do they call me Dice?" She laughed. "Well, soon into combat instruction, one of the instructors got tired of my risky tactics and yelled, 'One day, Devlin, the dice are gonna come up craps for you!' It stuck."

Viper nodded. "And as for Shadow… well, go review your sensor tapes from this morning's sim. That was all his work. Well, him and Book."

Book blushed, deeper than the red in her cheeks from the drinks. "It was mostly Shadow's analysis and jamming plan."

This exchange raised the bitter memory of NERV's shocking defeat, and many on NERV's side of the table seemed to slump a little lower. Dice watched them deflate, and moved quickly. "And as for Songbird, well, why don't you just show us? It is a karaoke bar, after all, Song."

Song extended her arms and tried to wave away the sudden attention. "Oh, there's no need for that. I'm really not that good, you know."

Dice laughed. "You don't have to put up the act, Song. Just sing that song you were listening to earlier."

Blushing, Song took to the small stage at the head of the room. As one might expect, she put the original version to shame.

----

Whitman finished replacing all the tools in their proper places. He didn't want Shinobu to get upset someone had used her tools. Either she would bash his brains in with a hammer, or she'd make a slip and Viper would die a horrible death when his 'Warden malfunctioned. Seeing as how Shinobu's love for Viper made the latter impossible, Whitman decided the former would hurt too much. After double checking everything was back in its proper place, Whitman relaxed, wiping the grease from his hands and turning back to his car, now with a fresh exhaust manifold.

Unfortunately, standing behind the car was a scruffy looking, long haired man. Whitman didn't recognize him, though he smiled a goofy grin in Whitman's direction. _There's a pistol in the second drawer of Shinobu's toolkit, _he thought to himself.

The man kept grinning. "So, this is the new home of the famous Earth Defender Squadron Blue?" He looked around, clearly thrilled at the elegant lines of the gleaming white Stormwardens. "You look a little old to be a pilot, so that must make you Commander Whitman."

Whitman leaned back against the tool case, dropping his hand slowly towards the second drawer. "Get lost, hippie. The protests are back in Tokyo."

The man eyed Whitman's sliding hand. "If you're going for iron, friend, at least give me a chance to explain myself. I left my pistol back at home, so it's the least you owe an unarmed man."

Whitman glanced around the hangar. They were still alone. "You get one minute. And remember, I'm well within my rights to kill you if I don't like what I hear. You're committing about a million capital offenses just standing there."

"My name's Kaji, Commander Whitman, and I have a lot to tell you," the long haired man began.


	4. Chapter 4: Tokyo3's Endless Summer

Part 4: Tokyo-3's Endless Summer Means Baseball.

The baseball landed in the catcher's mitt with a dull _thwack_. Ikari stood motionless in the batter's box, unable to decide if he should have swung- the pitch had been right on the edge of the strike zone.

"Ball Four, take your base!" The P.E. Teacher's voice filled the field. Dice shook her head as she looked over at Viper. They had managed to get the two of them and Shinobu onto the same P.E. Baseball team. Unfortunately, it had also cost them the better battery pair to another squad.

"Double play depth!" Viper called to his infield. The catcher had enough trouble catching, much less making adjustments. He stalked back to a deeper position at shortstop, with Dice laying in closer to Second Base. Ikari trotted down the line to first and took up a tentative position on the bag. There was no way around facing their lead-off hitter this inning, but it would have been nice to do it without someone on base.

They would really need a better pitcher to beat the seniors at the Festival, if Blue were still around for that.

Viper turned to Shinobu in left field, motioning her in a little closer. This batter didn't have power, but he was a good contact hitter to left. No sense making a bloop single easy for him.

The pitcher started into his windup, delivering a sharp fastball on the outside corner of the plate. The batter, who Viper only recently learned was named Suzuhara, caught the ball on the end of his bat, and sent it rocketing across the infield grass- directly into the gap between first and second base.

_Shit, _Viper thought as his brain unconsciously registered the implications. He raced for second base to cover it as he watched the play unfold. Dice leapt out towards the ball, throwing herself out in a full extension though the dirt of the infield, glove extended to stop the ball's speedy progress. Viper glanced up to see Ikari racing down towards second.

_Quicker than I thought._

Dice's glove closed around the ball, and she rolled to her back, launching the ball towards second base as Viper closed on it. He snatched the ball in mid-flight as his foot landed on the bag. He flung himself high in the air, leaping over Ikari as he slid down towards second. Viper whipped the ball towards first, catching Suzuhara before he closed on first, completing the slightly unorthodox double play.

Viper tumbled slightly through the air, landing awkwardly on one foot and spinning around on his toe. He took a stumbling step before he righted himself. It took him a second to realize why- Ikari's foot had never planted itself in his gut as he threw, which he had compensated for during his all too brief flight. Viper sighed as he walked towards first, offering a hand to help Ikari up.

Ikari took it, and Viper tugged him a little closer. "You should've broken up that double play." Ikari gave him a confused look. "You know what a double play is, right?"

"Well, of course," he said tentatively.

"When you're coming into second base off a hit like that, you need to try to break up the play- kick me in the legs or something when you slide," Viper said, in that calm voice he reserved for instructing others on the fine points of America's Pastime.

Ikari recoiled slightly, his face flashing with a tinge of horror. "But, you might get hurt!" he protested.

Viper shrugged. "If I do, it's my own fault for not getting out of the way. Besides, it's all in the game." Viper looked up, and noticed the P.E. teacher glaring at them for delaying the game. "Anyway, remember that," he said, as Ikari trotted off to his team's bench.

Dice looked over at him as the little meeting broke up. "We're gonna have to do something about that guy, Viper," she said in English. "Motherfucker can't save the world with an attitude like that."

Viper nodded. "I have an idea." Dice shook her head with a laugh.

---

Shadow considered it a good thing that New Shinjuku Station was almost as busy as the Shinjuku Station he knew and loved. It would make him that much harder to follow as he twisted his way through the crowd of businessmen, NERV officials, tourist gawkers and students. He quickly broke into a non-descript tea shop, the Dreadnought Café. He worked his way through the lunch crowd to a back room, and knocked twice at the door.

It cracked open enough for an eye, then opened fully to reveal Whitman. "They follow you, too?"

"They tried, sir," replied Shadow, glancing out into the main room to make sure.

"Good." He stood aside to let Shadow into the small room.

Shadow glanced quickly around. "This room safe, sir?" he asked, more than a little worried.

"A friend said it was- if he's a double agent, we're all dead anyway," replied Whitman. "It's something of a Hobson's Choice."

Shadow shrugged and settled into a chair. "So, what do we need me to do, sir?"

Whitman took the chair next to him. "We need access to NERV's systems. In particular, we need to break in to this MAGI system- you know anything about it?"

Shadow gave a low whistle. "It's the nerve center of NERV, if you'll forgive the pun. I've heard a lot of rumors, but nothing solid. It's blacker than black, if you get my drift. Getting in will be hard as hell."

Whitman took a deep breath, exhaling it thoughtfully. "Shadow, we're running on null intelligence here. Everything EDC has on this outfit is either public knowledge, puff pieces or completely falsified. We know NERV is a big program, and that its mission is to fight the Angels. Hell, I never would have thought much more about it than that, save someone clued me in to his suspicions. He thinks there's a bigger conspiracy afoot."

Shadow leaned forward inquisitively. "You mean a Quisling conspiracy to turn us over to the Angels? Something like the Satrap Conspiracy?"

Whitman shrugged noncommittally. "It's not clear yet. The problem is we know nothing. It's best we proceed on the assumption it's a Quisling operation, though any data we get on NERV will help at this stage."

Shadow nodded. "Getting into the lower security areas of NERV's datanet won't be that hard. We'll have to wait for the right opportunity to get deeper."

"Get what you can, and keep it on the down low. They're only moderately suspicious of us; let's keep it that way for now."

---

The door to Katsuragi's apartment swung open wide, and she paused as three members of Blue Squadron gazed expectantly at her. "Can Shinji come out and play, Miss Katsuragi?" Viper asked, pushing his aviator's sunglasses up his eyes.

Katsuragi had to chuckle at Viper's childlike show. "Well, it's really up to him, you know. He's not a kid." She stepped aside to let the trio in as Ikari turned on the sofa to look back at them. Normally, one wouldn't expect two teenaged girls and a lanky guy to look imposing, but between their straight-backed posture and dark sunglasses, they managed to make Shinji feel more than a little nervous.

Viper's fist pounded into his baseball glove with a vague menace. "Get your glove, Ikari. It's time to practice a little baseball."

Shinji looked nervous. "I'm not really very good at sports," he said, glancing over at Katsuragi.

"Shinji, a young man should take up a physical hobby. It's good for the circulation, fresh air helps improve thinking and reflexes, and activity decreases the chance he'll become a sexual deviant," Viper stated mater-of-factly, sounding like a doctor from a 1950s health film. Shinobu and Dice tried not to snigger.

Soryu leaned out of her room. "It's too late for that pervert," she called out before ducking her head back in and sliding the door closed. Ikari's cheeks heated.

"Go on, Shinji." Katsuragi smiled encouragingly. "It should be fun, and you can get to know the Blue Squadron guys better."

Ikari nodded meekly, disappeared into his room and returned with his glove and a beat up Swallows cap. Viper led the quartet out of the apartment complex and to the open, verdant field of a nearby park. Shinobu readily produced a ball, and send it off to Viper, who corralled it and snapped it to Ikari.

"So, why did you ask me to come out here with you? I'm not very good at this," he said, making an awkward snag.

"Simple, Ikari," replied Viper as Ikari flipped it back to him. "You've got some talent." Ikari's eyes widened slightly in disbelief. "Don't sell yourself short, man. You've got great hand-eye coordination and good foot speed. A little fielding and batting practice and you could make a decent outfielder. We could use one on the Barnstorming Blue team we're putting together after the Quindoc War ends, and once this Angel mess is over, you'll need something to do other than just be a famous Eva pilot," Viper said as he tossed the ball over to Dice, who flipped it up high to Shinji.

Ikari trotted under the looping path of the ball and stuck his glove up. Unfortunately, he snapped it closed a split second too early, and it fell to the ground. He bent over to pick it up, and threw it towards Shinobu, who had to race to catch it as it fell short. "Like I said, I'm not that good at sports," he said apologetically.

Viper looked over at him. "I said you had talent, Ikari. You need to get skills, and you have a confidence problem," he said, paraphrasing his namesake. "That's why we're going to practice. I mean, its how you get to Carnegie Hall." Ikari's look of puzzlement elicited a chuckle from Viper. "Sorry, it's an American expression. Carnegie Hall's a big music hall where famous musicians play. There's an expression that goes, "If you want to get to Carnegie Hall, practice, practice, practice." Ikari nodded thoughtfully, as if chewing on the expression. "I guess it doesn't translate well," Viper apologized.

Ikari was about to make another protest as Dice launched a hard throw in his direction. He leapt quickly, ripping the speeding ball from the air mid-flight. Viper grinned at him confidently. _He seems to think I can do it, _Ikari thought as he pulled the ball from his glove. _I guess it would be bad to let him down. I can try, at least. _

He looked up at Viper as he tossed it towards him. "Practice, practice, practice?"

"Every day, Ikari. Every day."


	5. Chapter 5:Sahaquiel Attacks!

"... Exactly, Ikari. That's the key skill to hitting for contact- being able to put the ball into play where you want it." Cicadas chirped away in the nearby trees as Viper ran his forearm over his damp brow. "Since you're not a great power hitter, but you have some footspeed, I want to try to get you up in the lineup, towards lead-off or hitting second. It's where..."

The screech of rubber panicking to grip the road cut Viper off. All three of them- Viper, Dice, and Ikari cut their heads around in a rapid spin to find Katsuragi's car, nearly against the backstop fence. She had pulled herself halfway out of the window. "Viper, Dice! Get in, Blue Squadron just went on alert!"

Ikari heard the slightly off-key clink of wood impacting packed dirt, and looked around. Just in a flash, the Blue Squadron pilots, who had been relaxing after a round of practice in one of Tokyo-3's many parks, had disappeared into the cabin of Katsuragi's growling transport. A slight shiver tickeld his spine as he found himself suddenly, but familiarly, alone. He almost didn't hear Katsuragi calling to him, ordering him to head to NERV headquarters to meet the others. His head shook clearingly, drawn from his empty moment and filled again with sudden purpose. He nodded vigorously, and trotted off for the train lines to HQ.

Alarm klaxons began to wail across Tokyo-3 as Katsuragi punched the accelerator, pinning Viper across the narrow back seat, arms twisted around oddly as he tried to get into place. Dice glanced over at the Major, her eyes narrowing slightly, processing the clues that fell quickly into place. Before the proper conclusion coalesced in her mind, however, Katsuragi presented it. "We've detected an Angel on the way to Tokyo-3. It just so happens to fall in your area of expertise, so to speak, and with the bosses away and leaving me in charge, I think it's best to call you in to assist in saving the world." She flashed her best winning smile.

Viper just shook his head as he pushed himself into a proper sitting position, just in time to get thrown back against the stiff cushions as Katsuragi rocketed down the long straightaway leading to NERV's airfield.

--

Whitman and the rest of Blue Squadron had already made it to the briefing room when they arrived. "Good, you made it in. Thanks, Major." He smiled slightly, just barely cracking his face. The smile was clearly for the pretty girl, not his hard to find lead pilot and section leader.

The room darkened as Katsuragi slid the door closed behind her on the way out. The screen at the head of the room flashed a display of a large eye, with vaulting wings extending away from its eerie, unblinking core. Behind it was the dark, cold starscape of open space, and just below rose Earth's blue curve.

"Blue Squadron, this is an Angel. No smartass remarks, Viper." Viper's mouth popped closed, cut off at the pass. "Our friends at NERV kindly informed us that it's named Sahaquiel, which is all Hebrew to me." He punched a button, and the view shifted again, this time to a view of a segment of the Pacific, a roiling impact crater dug into the very water. "Sahaquiel seems to be planning to bomb Tokyo-3 from orbit. Luckily for us so far, it has rather poor fire control. Parts of it are falling off and dropping into the ocean on each orbit it makes overhead. Unfortunately for us, it seems to be learning how to plot ballistic drops for orbit by.. well, eye." He paused. Thankfully, no one laughed. He didn't want to be one pilot short.

"Because NERV lacks good ground to orbit weapons platforms- they planned to do all their fighting on the ground- we've been asked to assist, being the only trans-atmospheric capable units in place with the proper weapons." He glanced over at Song, who seemed to have shifted slightly in her seat.

"Um, sir- does that mean Archangel?" She asked. Everyone had caught her ever so slight movements, forcing some sort of response. It was the bane of having everyone know you that well.

Whitman shook his head, and a couple tension releasing gasps floated from the audience. "No. First, we don't want to give NERV a close up look at that, for.. various reasons." He cleared his throat. "Secondly, we only have a few of them, and NERV graciously supplied us with the weapons for this particular run. Third, no one wants to know just how a gigaton level anti-matter weapon exploded in low earth orbit will interact with the interesting bits of earth's magnetosphere."

Shadow jumped in. "Probably will wreck every bit of electronics and electricity in line of sight."

"Which is quite a lot, of course," Book followed.

Whitman nodded quickly. "Exactly. Like I said, we don't want to find out, particularly not the hard way. Instead, we'll be using NERV's N-2 weapons. These will be a bit tricky to use. Originally designed for use as a freefall bomb, we've had them refitted with rockets to give them some push in orbit, but not much. As for guidance, well, we're having a hell of a time getting this thing to turn up on any sort of active sensor, and it doesn't seem to give off anything that we can detect passively. That just leaves the old Mark I eyeball. That's really going to make all of this tricky."

Another slide appeared on the briefing screen. "We'll boost you up to a higher orbit, above the Angel. This means that the Angel will be moving faster than you, and will come up behind you. When it's in position, you'll accelerate and drop down to its orbit from above, firing the N2 Rockets with a little assist from God's own Gee. We expect the N-2 weapons to deliver a multi-megaton experience, so don't fly too close or you won't bring back your multi-billion dollar spaceplane, and someone's going to have to pay for it."

The screen went white behind Whitman. His shoulders hunched, as if suddenly loaded with a heavy burden. "We don't get a lot of chances on this one. You'll carry one N-2 each, They're heavy, and we need as much Delta-V on this mission as we can get, even if it's only in Earth orbit. You'll have a lot of mass to move, and may have to make multiple moves up and down to get the right shot. Remember, you'll have only limited computer assistance, little detection capability beyond what your eyes can give you, and the enemy is refining its solution on every pass." He paused for a breath. "You don't have much time." He lifted his head up and grinned wolfishly. "Hell, if this shit were easy, NERV wouldn't need us, now would they?"

"No, they wouldn't," chuckled Viper.

--

Viper knew he couldn't really feel the heat from the fusion reactor in the fuselage of his 'Warden, but it spread lightly across his back all the same. Probably some sort of feedback rig from the ANSRS system, building neuropathways in his brain to make him feel warmer, safer whenever he lit off the teakettle.

_Wonderful,_ he thought. M_y plane's rewriting the sensation centers of my brain to make me feel good about starting this thing up. Better not tell anyone, since they might want to do something about it._

The bright blue water of the Philippine Sea spread brightly below him as the rest of Blue Squadron fell into formation around him. Overhead, he knew, the Angel was going to be over the horizon soon, and dropping another test shot against Tokyo-3. Their flightpath had been plotted to take them around the danger zone, based on how well it seemed to be correcting the fall of its own shot.

"Viper?" queried Shadow, a hint of anxiety pressing into his voice.

"Go ahead, Shadow."

"I see something. Twelve O'Clock high. Big fireball." He was definitely concerned now. Viper tossed his gaze skyward.

"Is that..."

"Sahaquiel's next shot? Yes, yes it is. Headed straight for us."

"Blue Squadron, break left and form up on me!" Viper ordered, snapping his plane over and pulling it into a power climb, both maneuvers well off the planned flightpath to orbit. The burning ball roared past them, its shockwave buffeting the the 'Wardens roughly.

Viper's eyes followed it into the ocean, where it disappeared in a boiling, rolling cloud of steam. Tall waves pushed out from the impact point, rushing away rapidly, tops whipped white with an eager desire to plant that malicious energy somewhere... useful. "That seemed closer than it should have been."

"Affirmative, lead," responded Bookworm. "Rough calculations show we're going to get one, maybe two shots at this."

Viper shook his head as the sky went from blue to purple, turning black as the atmosphere disappeared in their wake. It never could be simple and according to plan, could it?

–

"Here it comes!" Dice called, nearly shouting over the radio. She always did have the sharpest eyes in the squadron, particularly in space.

"Alright, then- hold on, and remember. We just get one chance at this. Load up Shadow's updated ballistic program, and follow me!" Viper stated, authority rolling through his voice. He quickly picked out the Angel from the blue backdrop below it, following it with the 'Wardens telescopic cameras. His mind, on it's own, picked out just the right moment to go, just by sight, by feel, by instinct. He jammed the throttle open, and the Warden responded with instant acceleration, driving them into lower orbit, matching speed with the Angel as it moved to overtake them. A quick adjustment, on the fly, brought their paths closer to merging in the great void above Earth. A glance over at Shadow's program, a flick to bring the 'Warden closer in line with the projected path. Still, he had to judge just the right moment to twist the N-2s tail and send it onward. That moment arrived quickly, and Viper launched his rocket, the Stormwarden shaking as the N-2 detached awkwardly from the rail.

"Viper, Bombs away!"

Soon, the rest of Blue Squadron released their rockets, and, in tight formation, cracked their throttles wide and dove straight for the welcoming atmosphere around Earth. Viper tracked the rockets by radar, superimposing them over his view of the Angel. They weren't going to get hits, but they had the thing bracketed tightly.

Just as the skin of the 'Warden began to heat up from the friction of hyperadvanced polymers meeting air, his cockpit polarized suddenly, blocking out the intense light from several detonating N-2 mines above them. Even at this distance, the 'Warden quivered as the shockwaves ripped through the thin thermosphere. And when the shudders on the cockpit reopened again...

...The angel remained. Viper swore. Loudly. Repeatedly. "Ground Control, this is Viper. No effect, repeat, no effect."

"Copy, Viper." Whitman let no emotion creep into his voice. "Divert to Area 51. We'll fly you back to Tokyo-3, if there is one, later."

–

Luckily, NERV had prepared for this potential outcome and the EVAs began their deployment to intercept the falling Angel.

–

Gendo Ikari felt an involuntary shiver twist down his spine. The Antarctic always did make him shiver, change in climate or no. It didn't have much to do with the weather, but the past. Even sitting once again in his office at NERV, he could occasionally feel the icy grip on his spine, and his recent return had brought them back with a vengence.

It seems that the introduction of Blue Squadron was causing some problems with the the progression of the scenario. He needed more data, more time to make adjustments. Luckily, it seemed, the Angels would cooperate. If the Dead Sea Scrolls were trustworthy. He picked up his pen, and began preparing for the next phase of his inquiry into Blue Squadron.


	6. Chapter 6: Exchange Program

Gendo Ikari folded his fingers together, lacing them into a plateau. This phalangical construction fell next to Gendo's mouth, muffling his speech when he began. His elbows rested on his desk, and his eyes shifted from the desktop to his guests, standing at the other end of his office, at the bottom of the Sephiroth. "I have examined the records from the latest Angel attack." His voice was cool, collected. "Earth Defender Squadron Blue performed adequate service in an emergent situation." Gendo paused while the US Naval officer rolled his eyes. While this officer was standing at attention, it was only the loosest sort- within the regulations, without adhering to the proper spirit of things. Gendo felt his fingers tense together, but he pushed back his annoyance with this particular person. The unfortunate truth was he could prove useful as Instrumentality progressed, since progress along the true path would likely stir up resistance from others. "As a result, I believe it best to work to further integrate Blue Squadron into NERV operations, on a Liason Command basis. Needless to say, we will retain our own spheres of interest- Blue Squadron will deal with Qindoc, we will deal with Angels. However, certainly we can grant each other mutual assistance when possible, such as air support for an Angel attack, or ground defenses if the Qindoc decide to attack Tokyo-3."

Gendo paused for a moment. So far, other than his backhanded compliment, his words had not elicited any response. Perfect. The American officer was probably bored, and boring this type was the first step in getting them to acquiesce, and acquiescence was the first step in manipulating them into the scenario. "Therefore, I believe it best that we begin a series of cross training exercises. The easiest way to accomplish this will be to swap, for training purposes, commanding officers."

Whitman cut him off unceremoniously. "Fuck no."

Katsuragi stiffened. Fuyutsuki cleared his throat. Gendo straighten the papers on his desk, lining the angles up so that the edges of the paper and desk aligned harmoniously. It soothed him. "I'm sorry," he said, evenly.

"I said, 'Fuck no.' As in, not simply no, but fuck no," Whitman explained . "I don't have time for this kind of kindergarten bullshit. You want to do joint training? Sure. Joint contingency planning? Sure. This mickey mouse crap is just going to fuck everything up. Since you're not in my chain of command, with all due respect to your position as head of NERV, shove it up your ass and die. Sir." Whitman turned on his heel and took a step to the door.

Ikari didn't move. "Please allow me to finish. I was saying, I'm sorry that you do not wish to be cooperative, and to work together in a spirit of full teamwork. However." Something in that last word made Whitman flinch involuntarily. "This set of exercises has been approved by the Earth Defense Command. Within the set of guidelines described previously." Whitman stopped, and turned back around. Gendo passed the paper on his desk to him nonchalantly.

Whitman read it, the tension growing in his hand causing it to crumple slightly in his grip, "Very well." He turned back around and marched directly out of Gendo's office, Katsuragi hard on his heels.

–

Ikari Shinji tapped the button at the wrist of his plug suit, causing it to draw tightly against his skin. He settled back in his locker to relax a bit, to catch his breath. His efforts were quickly interrupted, however, when Soryu and Ayanami strolled in, unannounced.

"Hey!" Ikari started. "What if I wasn't finished changing yet?"

Soryu chuckled, running her fingers through her hair, pushing the mass back away from her face. "So what? It's not like you're that impressive or anything. And it's not like you'd get to see any of us. We were ready to go before you arrived, as usual."

Ikari searched his brain for a proper retort, but only could find a weak one. He was about to offer it when the other door slid open. A shorter, broad shouldered man walked in, in the brilliant white uniform Ikari recognized only from meeting Eva 02 at sea- the uniform of the United States Navy. The man wore dark aviator sunglasses over his eyes, making it seem like his gaze bored through all three of them at once. "Get your asses in the simulators."

He started to turn to go. The Eva pilots started, a bit taken aback at it all. Soryu began, "But, you're Whitman-Shosa! You're in charge of that band of delinquents over at the airbase, not us!"

Whitman stopped halfway to the door. "Change of plans for the time being. I'm in charge of your training menu for the next few weeks. But I don't have time to explain every pissant thing. Now, shut your trap and get in the simulator."

Soryu clenched her fists, fuming, stunned into temporary silence. Ikari jumped into the breach presented by the opportune silence. "Um, excuse me? We usually get a tactical briefing in the briefing room before any simulation, and, well..."

Whitman turned back, glowering. His eyes, hidden behind the dark sunglasses, seemed now to focus on Ikari. "Briefing? Tokyo-3 is under attack. If you don't get in the simulators in the next three minutes, _everyone dies_. There. A briefing. Shut up and get in the simulators. You don't want to know what happens if you say one more word." And with that, Whitman marched out of the room, and the Eva pilots rushed for the simulators.

– 

"And then, for point 43-C, the Squadron will execute Evolution 14 again, this time along the left echelon. Any questions?" Katsuragi activated the lighting controls in the briefing room, illuminating Blue Squadron and her best enthusiastic smile.

She thought she heard crickets chirping in response to her query, like some sort of bad comedy show. Instead, she realized a moment later, it was the sound effects from Shadow's video game leaking from around his headphones and infiltrating across the room. Katsuragi scanned the room quickly, taking in Blue Squadron, much as one takes in the cockroaches in a dark room just as the lights come on. Dice leaned over her desk, scribbling her way though last night's homework. Short had out a pack of playing cards, and the lights coming up caught him cheating at solitaire, which he sheepishly gave up. Kasuragi sighed, trying not to let the anger boiling inside her rush free in a containment failure. At least Songbird had managed to sit perfectly still and pay attention- unlike Viper, who shifted slightly so that his head perched in a funny position on his desktop, and he began to snore, loudly.

"Captain Taylor?" Katsuragi asked, false brightness filling her voice.

Viper snorted for a moment, then kept snoring. Kasturagi slammed her briefing notebook on the podium.

"Captain Taylor!"

Finally, his head shot up. "What?"

Katsuragi hung her head slightly. "Did you even hear any of the briefing?"

"Sure. Take off, meet Qindoc, shoot down Qindoc, come home. Easier than falling down."

"Wrong mission," said Songbird.

He thought for a moment. "Fine, Take off, fly to big Qindoc target. Break through fighter screen, smash big target. Come home."

"Try again," suggested Short, mixing the cards on his desk to announce his surrender.

Viper looked around quickly, then shot out of his seat in a blur, grasping his helmet and kicking the chair out of the way.

"Not that one, either," responded Dice, frustration edging into her voice.

Viper shrugged. "There are three mission types- fighter sweep, strike and intercept. What the hell else could we be doing?" He turned back to face Katsuragi, his face twisting into a puzzle.

Dice tossed her math book down on the table. "Formation flying. You know, like we did back in the frickin' T-6? Formation flying, with stupid names." Exasperation flooded her voice.

Katsuragi blinked as she realized Dice wasn't annoyed with Viper. "Is there a problem, Lieutenant Devlin?"

Devlin rolled her eyes, sighing audibly. "We're fighter pilots, _Major. _Not a goddamn drill team."

Katsuragi lifted her thick briefing book. "Lieutenant, I've performed a number of analyses of the past several combat and training missions run by Blue Squadron, and it shows a 49.87% decrease in formation flying skills in the past several months. Clearly, this is a major deficiency in Blue Squadron's skills, which we need to correct in order to increase teamwork efficiency and therefore combat effectiveness."

Songbird cut in, her voice politely even, compared to the raspy exasperation in Dice's. "Major, how many combat victories did the squadron score over the term of that skill decline?"

Kasuragi flipped open her briefing book to the appendixes. "27 confirmed, 14 probables, plus a cruiser."

Dice shrugged. "You can lead a horse to water."

Katsuragi puzzled over this expression, and then decided, like most things the _gaijin_ pilots did, it was to annoy her. "Man your planes."

–

Ikari flexed his hands on the controls of his simulated Eva, glancing around the projected images around him in the cockpit. His legs quivered and flexed semi-consciously, trying to keep the blood flowing properly through them while he kept Eva-01 still, scanning over the Tokyo-3 skyline slowly, concentrating hard on not missing a flash, twinge or speck out of place. Still, he felt the crawling fear in his stomach ripple and grow as the minutes passed. Commander Whitman had passed no information to them at all about the mission- just as the simulation started, he announced that a fusion reactor had blown, obliterating NERV's control center. They had to defend the geo-front on their own, without any support.

After they had maneuvered their Evas into place over the geo-front, and slid themselves into a circle to watch for any threats, the other pilots had gone dead silent, feeding the gnawing fear with a pervasive loneliness. He fingered the radio control on his panel, then released it. He wasn't sure what he'd say, for one, and for two, he wasn't sure that anything he had to saw wouldn't lead to some sort of angry retort from the other pilots.

The next few minutes stretched into several epochs, during which Ikari might have believed the bacteria on his skin would have evolved into having a spine. He couldn't take it any longer. He punched his radio button.

"Anybody see anything?"

Soryu's response was predictable. "No, and how do you expect me to concentrate with you yelling in my ear?"

Ikari leaned back, the warm LCL sliding over him as he started to sulk. This was going to be troublesome. Still, he willed himself to concentrate- their embarrassment at the hands of Blue Squadron, and the role his inattention had played in it, had not escaped either Katsuragi or Soryu, nor had the latter allowed him to forget about it. As he started to replay the last incident in his mind, a light flashed, a harsh, attention stealing red. Several small contacts on his radar screen, low and close and fast, ripping their way through the sky towards the three of them.

"Watch out!" he shouted, scrambling for his autorifle. He snapped off a burst at the flying machines- a dark corner of his mind screamed that they were Qindoc fighters- but didn't seem to connect. They were quickly on top of the trio, the ungainly noses spitting shards of fire that exploded on the ground, burning a trail to their powercords, much like the last exercise. Eva-00 made it around as her power was cut, and snapped off a shot at tight quarters. It found it's mark, the fighter turning into a black and red smear in front of the giant humanoid robot. Eva-02 was caught completely flat footed.

They immediately broke out of their formation. Ayanami and Soryu fled to the nearest electrical ports, and stood by, waiting for them to leap from the ground. They never came. The same corner of his mind that identified their enemy reminded him that Control was down, and thus no one could give the order to send replacement power supplies.

"They're not going to come- all we can do is try to fight off the attack!" Ikari shouted over the radio.

"Acknowledged," replied Ayanami, rushing back to close with him.

"Shut up!" responded Soryu as she broke for the next place where a spare cord might arrive from. When it didn't, she impatiently ran off for the next, and the next, until her Eva went limp for lack of power.

Meanwhile, Ayanami and Ikari turned back to back, allowing them to effectively guard Ikari's powersupply, while the countdown on Ayanami's continued.

"They're coming again," Anayami warned cooly. Ikari raised his rifle, prepared this time. He took careful aim on one, and depressed the triggers. A stream of bright tracers rushed from his gun, flying out until they intercepted a Qindoc fighter, which exploded in a bright white point, lighting the nearest building aflame. As they flew by, Ayanami's sure aim brought down another one before the fighters rocketed out of range. Before they could return, Ikari watched her remaining power countdown, until it hit zero.

When they returned, their formation had split into two. While Ikari drew a bead on those attacking from the front, forcing them to break off their attack, he could not turn around quickly enough to engage the other formation. His power went dead, and his own countdown began.

The Qindoc fighters stayed just out of range until the counter his all zeros, and the screens went pitch black.

–

The holographic display in the Blue Squadron ready room displayed Blue Squadron's movements overhead, leaving long comet tails behind them to mark their progress through Katsuragi's program of increasingly complex formations. The Major shook her head as Short failed to pop into formation properly. This was the third time he'd failed this particular effort, and was only further proof that she was right: Blue Squadron needed remedial training in group formations. How else could they pull off coordinated maneuvers in combat?

This was the top scoring squadron in Earth Defense Command? It's a wonder Tokyo-3 wasn't a smoking crater, smashed by a meteor dropped from orbit by the Qindoc.

She picked up the radio microphone. "Blue Lead, this is Ground Control. Take it back to the IP and run maneuver sequence 16 again. Short messed up C turn again."

There was a pause. "Ground Control, Blue Lead. Kilo Mike Alpha."

Katsuragi's brow furrowed, squinting at the display. She wasn't quite sure what that meant, but it was pretty sure that Blue Squadron wasn't turning back like she had ordered them to.

"Say again, Blue Lead?"

"I said negative, Ground Control. Blue Lead, taking control."

"Blue Lead, you _will_ return to the IP and attempt the maneuver again!" Katsuragi shouted into the microphone, which she then slammed to the desk.

"He didn't hear that one," sounded a youthful, feminine voice. Katsuragi spun in her chair, facing the girl. She was Japanese as well, the same age as the rest of the squadron, but dressed in greasy coveralls. She had commandeered Viper's seat in the ready room, as well as Short's deck of cards. "Taking control means that he's shut down the command frequency. You know, in case the Qindoc take over the command frequencies and start issuing nonsense orders." She shifted a pile of cards to another.

Katsuragi bared her teeth, trying to be friendly buy generally failing. "Just who are you?"

The girl looked up. "I'm Shinobu. You know, Viper's crew chief. Did you even read the squadron files? You know technicians are part of the squadron, too, right?"

Katsuragi's balled fist slammed into the desk. "Why are all the children in this squadron so damned disrespectful?" She flinched slightly, surprised at the emotional outburst.

"Major," replied Shinobu, evenly. "Has it occurred to you that we're not children anymore? This is a combat squadron, not a high school math class."

–

Ikari hunched over as he settled on the bench of his locker. The his failure, followed by the long minutes settled into the simulator, in complete darkness, felt like weights loaded across the yoke of his back. He stared at his feet a moment, letting the silence wash over him.

Sadly, his peace lasted only for a second. The door opened with a woosh, and in strode the other pilots. Soryu grabbed a seat, crossed her arms over her chest, and glared right through Ikari, her eyes ripping through him and deep into his locker. Just exactly what he wanted to see right at that moment, between her glare and Ayanami's continuing inscrutability, both of them accusing him in their own way just how much the current predicament, and the dressing down that was yet to come was all his fault. And no doubt Whitman, who seemed like a terror to Blue Squadron, would lay into them for all of their problems.

As if to compound his misery, the brightly starched uniform, containing Whitman, entered the room.

"What the hell happened out there?" he demanded.

Soryu's eyes locked on Ikari, fire seeming to shoot from her pupils. "Shinji fucked everything up!"

"Not what I asked," responded Whitman.

There was a pause- for himself, Ikari wasn't sure exactly what Whitman was asking. Eventually, Ayanami spoke up. "Everyone died."

Whitman nodded. "Everyone died. Remember that- if we fail, everyone dies. Now, how come we failed this go 'round?"

Soryu drew her arms tighter across her chest, closed her eyes and tried to give herself a noble air by lifting her chin just so. "Because we didn't have any help from Control!"

"Control was destroyed by a traitorous saboteur, as you discovered right after launch. Try again."

"Then it was Shinji's fault, since he didn't catch the enemy in time." She didn't bother to look at the object of her accusation.

"Ikari detected the enemy fighters half a second after they were visible on his radar scope. I might add, Soryu, that they were detectable from your set, but you never seemed to find them. In fact, you seem to want to blame everyone else for this clusterfuck- and have no desire to take on responsibility yourself."

She balked at this response. "What did I do wrong?"

"You bolted from the scene of the action, when it was clear that you couldn't get another power hookup," Whitman continued, sounding even as he painted her into a corner.

"Well, I can't fight without power," she said, eyes falling to the floor.

"Yes, you can. Ayanami did. If you had stayed, rather than running, you might have given Ikari a fighting chance. All three of you might have been enough to stave off the attacks. Might. Still, there was a way to solve this problem without letting your power run down. Anyone?"

Silence met this. Ikari considered the question. Somehow, he just knew Soryu would be too upset to come up with an answer, while Ayanami wasn't creative enough. Then, it dawned on him. "We could have protected the power cord, and swapped it between ourselves between attacks."

Whitman nodded, with a bare hint of a smile. "Good. Next time, think of it in the simulator, not the ready room. You must, _must_ know the way your machines work. Dismissed."

–

"... and this is the point where Blue Lead deviated from the flight plan and undertook manuevers on his own," sighed Katsuragi. She wanted to yell at him. She wanted to bring him up on charges. She wanted to do something, anything to remind herself that she was in charge here. But, honestly, there was nothing that showed her she was. She was most definitely in the outgroup here- Blue Squadron was too tightly knit for her to bowl over. She turned to Viper. "What do you have to say for yourself, then?"

Viper ignored the tone of her statement, and stood up. "Thank you, Major. Now, once we broke out of the maneuver section of the program, we began a little game of 'King of the Hill.'" He started to fast forward to an interesting section of the replay, as trails twisted around each other, each one trying to cut in on Blue Lead. "Now, Dice, here you opted to open the scissors..."

Katsuragi settled back into a chair, pushed aside by Viper and the rest. They eagerly jumped into a dissection of the forty or so minutes of air combat that followed their deviation from the plan. She tried to listen. Maybe she could learn how to get her authority back from that usurper, Viper.

–

Ikari Gendo shut down the document in his reader. Blue Squadron was going to be an interesting tangle to unravel. Part of him burned with resentment for their willingness to upset such a well worked scenario. Another part of him shivered with delight at the chance to work with such a challenge, to weave it into his scheme. He folded his hands in front of his face and began to consider his options.


End file.
